Please help me! The Legos in my house are breeding.
Do you organize by pieces or kits? Do you organize by color or shape?
The only Legos organizers or cases I can find are the fabric soft bins that convert to a playmat. I need something hard that is more generic in theme, like a plain Lego container, not just Ninjana or Star Wars, etc. I'm not looking to separate all the pieces by colors or shapes but I would like something w/a few compartments to separate the large pieces from the smaller pieces as well as the itty bitty pieces like a headlight or battle gun. I'm seriously tempted to run out an get one of those Polly Pocket cases b/c thats the only thing I can find that will fit my needs and I'm pretty sure my kid would rather eat green beans 24/7 than hold his precious Legos in some girly pink case.
I would love to hear how other moms organize their kid's Legos. I can't use a "just throw it in a storage bin or shoe box" suggestion as my kid loves his Legos and will spend more time hunting for particular pieces in the pile than actually putting something together, thus leading to him whining about what pieces he can't find.
I have a plastic three drawer unit that keeps most of them, those that are not on the floor bing played with.
ANy that the dog finds before he picks them up she eats. Any I find I yell "DOG" and the dogs, and the kids come running.
Usually the kids are yelling at me not to feed whatever it is to the dog, Polly POckets, Legos, KNex,
HAHA I don't actually feed them to the dog but it is funny to see them run to save their items.
My sons legos came in a big plastic container. I think they were 1000 legos or something. One year he got 2 of these, so he has 2 plastic lego bins that he keeps them all in. He has his own smaller bins that he uses for when he is working on a project but for the most part they go back in the large bins and they stay in his payaroom so they are not all over the house.
Check out the container store, they should have all kinds of different sizes and kinds of storage stuff. We just put all the legos in big tupperware containers, and the small stuff I put in ziplock baggies *in* the tupperware. The instructions for each set get put in plastic paper protectors and are in a three ring binder - this was what my mom did for our legos when I was a kid. In fact, all the legos and instructions I have for my kids *are* my legos, my mom kept them all safe and organized so that 20 years later all she had to do was hand me the boxes and folders!
get one of those big rubber maid containers that slides under the bed. inside it put a few of the disposable ziplock containers. the itty bitty stuff can go into those inside the bigger one. We had one of these under our kids beds for years. it is in fact now at the college dorm of one of our kids lol. not filled with legos anymore but still used. one of the biggie things we did with our kids with legos when they first started out was made them sit at the table with a cookie sheet / jellyroll pans. that way the stuff didn't get to far away from them. I would steer you away from being the one to "organize" the legos. only because then your child won't be able to play legos without you sitting there steering him into what and how to use the pieces. let him figure it out. offer him the parts needed and let him sort / organize to his hearts content.
www.ohdeedoh.com had a diy table that was made to organize legos. you could also use under bed storage buckets of different sizes.
No matter how "You" organize it... it will NEVER stay, in that organization.
Because, kids are kids and they play with it and it will all get in an unorganized mess again.
I keep my kids' Legos bricks, in a plastic bin box.
Then I keep the actual figures, in another separate box.
My kids, know their colors and can easily just look through the bin for whatever color they want or whatever brick they want.
As far as the itty bitty pieces, well I tell my Kids that those go in a smaller plastic box. THEY can do that. If not it will get lost.
I make it... 'their' responsibility. I tell them "Here, these are for the Legos. Bricks go in here. Figures go in here. Tiny accessories go in here. Keep it here, if you can. If not it gets lost." And they do.
You teach the CHILD... how to put away, and where it goes. THEN that makes them able to look for it and problem-solve it and where to put it away.
I just use, generic plastic boxes or bins, from Walmart. ALSO great are those plastic drawer things, with wheels on it. Which Walmart also has.
I throw them in a storage bin. When they hurt me I throw them away. By the time my kids are ten they no longer own any legos.
I agree with Sherry. Everything in a large, shallow bin. There's nothing wrong with him searching for the right pieces, it's part of the process and teaches him patience and perserverance (sp?)
If he's that intent on organizing them give him some ziploc baggies and let him organize away, he'll be busy for hours!
LOL! we had a box to put them in, and called it good!
I bought one of those clear plastic four-drawer bins at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It happened to be on sale - yay!
In the top drawer goes all the guys and their accessories.
In the 2nd drawer goes all the weapons, props and teeny pieces.
In the 3rd drawer (which is bigger than the top 2 drawers) goes all car pieces and any completed Lego projects.
In the 4th drawer (also bigger) goes all the blocks and other construction pieces.
It's not perfect, but has definitely helped a lot. We used to keep them in a big flat bin, but he was always calling me over to help him find an itty-bitty piece that was in the absolute bottom.
These are your child's legos. How does he want to organize them? Ask him for his input- if he's old enough to play with those tiny piece legos- he is old enough to have an idea of what to do. Relax and he will too.
Hope to help keep the fun of building,
.
I need this answer too! Currently we have about 5 "lego bins" to hold vairous pieces. They are plastic and have a pic of a lego guy on them...from Target. My son also keeps some pieces in the boxes that they came in too. We have a table in the basement that he is allowed to leave the legos out, but they still manage to make there way upstairs and end up everywhere! ahhh......and they hurt when you step on them....but they are the best toys!
Buckets... different bucket for each size...small ones only come out with supervision. I make the kids responsible for the others...no drinks, snacks, or meals before they are picked up.
We have bins as well but is is less than satisfactory (but at least off the floor). I have some sets set aside in ziploc bags in the bins. Good luck.
I know this is exactly what you didn't want for advice but what about putting most of it in shoe box sized stearlite containers and labeling them. Or, take a picture of the Legos that are inside of that bin and tape the picture to the outside of that box. If he mixes them up, then it's hopeless and they will all get mixed up anyway (no matter how you choose to organize). We have them all in a bin (although, we don't have loads and loads of Legos). My kids always dump the bin out when playing and then I make them put it all back in the bin when they are finished (it's less overwhelming for them). Will your son be really good about putting things exactly where they belong? Something to think about. If you have too many to put together, I'd definitely make it a rule that only one box may be pulled out at a time and must be picked up before another box may be opened. Most of our kits end up thrown into the pile. Although, he has a new Alien Invaders one that he loves so much he wants to keep separate. We'll probably put that one back in it's original box or a shoe sized plastic bin.
we didn't last that long....about two days and out the door they went.
However, I suggest using tackle boxes and bead/craft organizers for more efficient organization of the different pieces. See this Page!!
The legos that we got from my husband's family came with stackable plastic bins that have movable dividers, and the lids are the flat lego boards. They remind me of bins for hardware parts. I've never seen them in a store, so I don't know if they even make them anymore. When we got the legos, they were sorted by color, so we've tried to keeep them that way. Additional legos beyond that, I dump in clear file boxes. It's a little easier to hunt for things when you can see through the sides of the box, and it's big enough to put projects in without taking them apart.
Show your son a photos of a few ideas and see what he likes as he should be the one to sort them and put them away.
My son liked shallow boxes so he could just spread stuff out and see what he wanted. He didn't like the sorting idea. He would rather hunt then sort. Find out what works for your son so he will follow through on the clean up.
Go to Walmart or Target and get whatever size plastic containers you need. They have ones that have really easy lids that your kids should be able to do themselves.
